We have an old stray cat, named Tommy.  So original for a tom cat right?  At one time he was quite feral.  He would spit and hiss if we got within 10 feet of him. We persisted, giving Tommy a wooden box on the front porch, and a heating pad to stay warm all winter.  And plenty of food.

We moved, and the new house owners weren’t thrilled to have him living on the porch, so we have-a-hart trapped him again (first time for neutering and a rabies jab), and moved him with us.  Since it was winter in a harsher climate, in an unknown area, he stayed in our basement in a large dog run all winter.  In spring I let him out, he hung around the house still hissing at us, and little by little started to appreciate our food and shelter.

Ultimately, Tommy has a cat door to use to go in and out, never strays more than 15 feet from the house and has become a big lap cat.

Which brings me to his bad breath.  Really bad breath.  And he drools when he’s happy which makes it even worse.  Tommy finally let me pull up his lip, just enough to look at his mouth, and I saw some of the worse tartar I’ve ever seen. Many of his teeth appears to be missing, and I couldn’t even see the molars underneath all the gunk.

Being a good cat owner, I called the vet to set up a day to drop him off and have him examined and treated.  I knew many of the teeth would be extracted, as they were probably rotten under neath all the tartar, which forms a hard calcified deposit leading to teeth decay and gingivitis.  In his case the tartar totally encapsulated the teeth.

Later that afternoon the call from the vet came that Tommy was done and could come home.  He was diagnosed with Feline gingivitis and stomatitis.  Basically, a totally infected mouth that was a result of an autoimmune disease, making him “allergic to the dental enamel on his teeth” the vet said.  Some of the gum had grown over the remains of teeth broken off. The only treatment – removal off all his teeth.  Every. Single. One.

He was vaccinated again, had his ears cleaned and treated and was given a long acting antibiotic injection so I wouldn’t have to try to pill him or put liquid into his now still sore mouth (albeit for a different reason).  I’d seen cats with this condition when I worked 25 years ago in the veterinary office, but usually in pure bred cats, Abyssinians especially, and I hadn’t ever thought about it happening a stray no pedigree pet.  And yet, here we are. My vet said he actually sees it routinely now.

There are several different cat mouth diseases resulting in very similar conditions.  Feline gingivitis (inflamed gums and infection from tartar buildup), feline stomatitis (autoimmune component on top of the gingivitis) and Feline Odontoclastic Reabsorption (lesions at the gum line of a tooth, causing erosion and pain) all present the same way.

Symptoms include:

• A painful mouth, which can result as a cat pawing at their face
• Severe drooling
• Bad breath
• Difficulty eating or total loss of appetite
• Additional viral and bacterial infections
• Red inflamed gums
• Breakdown of tooth enamel – gums may grow over teeth or teeth can be reabsorbed

The exact causes are not known, and treatment is basically the same for all these diseases.  Teeth removal takes away the autoimmune component, and any broken, diseased, or eroding teeth.  Sometimes all the teeth are extracted, and sometimes only the diseased tooth.  In Tommy’s case, it would have served no purpose to leave any teeth, as they would simply cause more issues in the future.

Now, before you wonder how a cat with no teeth can eat, let me assure you cats do just fine.  Although it took about 2 days before Tommy was interested in trying food (very odd since he is a chow hound) and he started swallowing dry food and licking at canned food.  The few sutures he had to pull together some of the gums from the extractions, have dissolvable sutures that will fall out in a few days.  By day 3 he was back to his old self, running around the house, in my lap and face (sans the halitosis!).

Tommy isn’t young – ate least 10 up to 12 years old.  His dental cleaning costs exceeded mine by far, but he’s part of the family.  And he’s become such a nice house cat  I couldn’t leave him in pain and uncomfortable (though I wish he would earn his keep and catch a few mice now). 

Dental disease in cats and dogs can lead to kidney and heart issues, all due to the infection the bloodstream picks up in the mouth and circulates around the body. It’s much better to treat this bacteria infection sooner rather than later (I wish Tommy had come to love us sooner) to keep a pet healthy and live a long life.

With luck, Tommy stays with us for another 10 years.  Two of my Ragdolls have made it to 20 years young, one of whom is still with us now at 21.  The strays also hold a place in our hearts, though, and usually end up to be a special unique character that would rival any purebred. And are maybe more memorable at that.

Does Your Cat have a Serious Dental Disease?

We have an old stray cat, named Tommy.  So original for a tom cat right?  At one time he was quite feral.  He would spit and hiss if we got within 10 feet of him. We persisted, giving Tommy a wooden box on the front porch, and a heating pad to stay warm all winter.  And plenty of food.

We moved, and the new house owners weren’t thrilled to have him living on the porch, so we have-a-hart trapped him again (first time for neutering and a rabies jab), and moved him with us.  Since it was winter in a harsher climate, in an unknown area, he stayed in our basement in a large dog run all winter.  In spring I let him out, he hung around the house still hissing at us, and little by little started to appreciate our food and shelter.

Ultimately, Tommy has a cat door to use to go in and out, never strays more than 15 feet from the house and has become a big lap cat.

Which brings me to his bad breath.  Really bad breath.  And he drools when he’s happy which makes it even worse.  Tommy finally let me look at his mouth, and I saw some of the worse tartar I’ve ever seen. Many of his teeth appears to be missing, and I couldn’t even see the molars underneath all the gunk.

Being a good cat owner, I called the vet to set up a day to drop him off and have him examined and treated.  I knew many of the teeth would be extracted, as they were probably rotten under neath all the tartar, which forms a hard calcified deposit leading to teeth decay and gingivitis.  In his case the tartar totally encapsulated the teeth.

Later that afternoon the call from the vet came that Tommy was done and could come home.  He was diagnosed with Feline gingivitis and stomatitis.  Basically, a totally infected mouth that was a result of an autoimmune disease, making him “allergic to the dental enamel on his teeth” the vet said.  Some of the gum had grown over the remains of teeth broken off. The only treatment – removal off all his teeth.  Every. Single. One.

He was vaccinated again, had his ears cleaned and treated and was given a long acting antibiotic injection so I wouldn’t have to try to pill him or put liquid into his now still sore mouth (albeit for a different reason).  I’d seen cats with this condition when I worked 25 years ago in the veterinary office, but usually in pure bred cats, Abyssinians especially, and I hadn’t ever thought about it happening a stray no pedigree pet.  And yet, here we are. My vet said he actually sees it routinely now.

There are several different cat mouth diseases resulting in very similar conditions.  Feline gingivitis (inflamed gums and infection from tartar buildup), feline stomatitis (autoimmune component on top of the gingivitis) and Feline Odontoclastic Resorptive (lesions at the gum line of a tooth, causing erosion and pain) all present the same way.

Symptoms include:

• A painful mouth, which can result as a cat pawing at their face
• Severe drooling
• Bad breath
• Difficulty eating or total loss of appetite
• Additional viral and bacterial infections
• Red inflamed gums
• Breakdown of tooth enamel – gums may grow over teeth or teeth can be reabsorbed

The exact causes are not known, and treatment is basically the same for all these diseases.  Teeth removal takes away the autoimmune component, and any broken, diseased, or eroding teeth.  Sometimes all the teeth are extracted, and sometimes only the diseased tooth.  In Tommy’s case, it would have served no purpose to leave any teeth, as they would simply cause more issues in the future.

Now, before you wonder how a cat with no teeth can eat, let me assure you cats do just fine.  Although it took about 2 days before Tommy was interested in trying food (very odd since he is a chow hound) and he started swallowing dry food and licking at canned food.  The few sutures he had to pull together some of the gums from the extractions, have dis-solvable sutures that will fall out in a few days.  By day 3 he was back to his old self, running around the house, in my lap and face (sans the halitosis!).

Tommy isn’t young – ate least 10 up to 12 years old.  His dental cleaning costs exceeded mine by far, but he’s part of the family.  And he’s become such a nice house cat  I couldn’t leave him in pain and uncomfortable (though I wish he would earn his keep and catch a few mice now). 

Dental disease in cats and dogs can lead to kidney and heart issues, all due to the infection the bloodstream picks up in the mouth and circulates around the body. It’s much better to treat this bacteria infection sooner rather than later (I wish Tommy had come to love us sooner) to keep a pet healthy and live a long life.

With luck, Tommy stays with us for another 10 years.  Two of my Ragdolls have made it to 20 years young, one of whom is still with us now at 21.  The strays also hold a place in our hearts, though, and usually end up to be a special unique character that would rival any purebred. And are maybe more memorable at that.